


Deathshipping Week 2020

by Mainstream_Deviant



Series: Deathshipping Week 2k19 AND BEYOND! ;) [7]
Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! - All Media Types, Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Angst, Deathshipping Week 2020, Drabbles, Fluff, M/M, Slice of Life, see chapter notes for specific tags, you name it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-26
Updated: 2020-08-01
Packaged: 2021-03-05 23:09:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 5,796
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25533388
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mainstream_Deviant/pseuds/Mainstream_Deviant
Summary: And heeeere we go again with deathshipping week! :DThis is a collection of standalone bite-sized drabbles/ficlets for Deathshipping Week 2020! Fic length and genre varies from fic to fic - check the chapter notes for info on each day's entry.Includes:Day 1 - Light/DarknessDay 2 - GameDay 3 - Supernatural/HorrorDay 4 - Favourite Fan ContentDay 5 - Tradition/NewDay 6 - AUDay 7 - Free
Relationships: Bakura Ryou/Yami Marik, Deathshipping - Relationship
Series: Deathshipping Week 2k19 AND BEYOND! ;) [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1386886
Comments: 20
Kudos: 17





	1. Day 1 - Light/Darkness

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Length: short (400ish)  
> YM name-of-the-day: He doesn't even have one yet. :o  
> Tags: Pining, Ryou POV, Ryou's got it bad

He was gorgeous.

The man that had unexpectedly popped out of the shadows behind the spirits of the items had been a sight to behold. Ryou had heard stories, of course, but to actually see him in the flesh – amazing. Enthralling. He really didn’t understand what others saw in him when they shrank away from his smiles and his laughter and his dramatic movements. They called it ‘maniacal’ or ‘creepy’. Ryou called it breath-taking.

Marik’s other half suited the bright light of midday. He was radiant in the sun, soaking in the newfound freedom of the wide world and a vessel of his own to explore it. His golden hair practically sparkled, and Ryou was fascinated at its weightlessness. He wanted to reach out and feel its texture, but wasn’t sure how the man would react. He was still skittish around others, damn it all. But sometimes, when the sun was high and the sky was clear, Ryou would catch him looking upwards with the tiniest of gentle smiles, and it was all Ryou could do not to reach out and try to share the wonder in his eyes. His innards did all kinds of improbable things whenever he spotted that tiny, happy smile.

Yes, the ‘other’ Marik was well suited to shining in the sun.

But at night…

Oh, in the darkness is when he came alive. It was still his element, even if his nature had been tamed and tempered with the ebbing of the rage that drove him those first and darkest days. His wide grin still shone, Cheshire-like, even on the darkest nights. The others hated it, but it sent a delightful thrill along Ryou’s spine every time he saw it. Never had he seen someone so perfectly suited to live in the shadows, to meld to them and breath them in. Even Bakura didn’t find them a home the way Marik’s other half seemed to. Bakura used them out of necessity. This other Marik played in them for the sheer joy of it in a way that Ryou still only aspired to. And while the man eagerly accepted new experiences in the sun, he seemed positively driven to find new ways to exist in the dark.

And if Marik’s darker half was looking for new experiences, then Ryou was going to be damn sure he was going to one of them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome to another exciting edition of Deathshipping Week! :D 
> 
> As always, I welcome and adore all forms of feedback, no matter when you find this. I love replying to reviews, so lay 'em on me. lol!
> 
> [ Tumblr ](https://mainstream-deviant.tumblr.com/)


	2. Day 2 - Game

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Length: ficlet - ~1100 words  
> YM name-of-the-day: Amir  
> Tags: post-cannon, established relationship, domestic fluff,

Game night was very important in their home. The selection and playing of the games was taken very seriously, and tonight it was Ryou’s turn to shine. And he was absolutely sure this was going to be the best game night ever. 

He hummed happily to himself and he strolled down the sidewalk, precious cargo in hand. They’d been talking about this idea for a while, but Amir had just…never gotten around to it. Always, there was a new deadline, or one more thing to research first, or a chore that needed to be done. Ryou figured at this point his partner just needed a swift shove in the right direction to stop worrying about the minutia, and so he’d done exactly that. Really – sometimes, you just needed to jump in with both feet and figure it out. He couldn’t wait. 

The door was unlocked when he got home, and he very carefully nudged it open. He stashed his bounty before wandering into the kitchen, where Amir could be found curled up on the window seat with a mug of long-cooled tea and a sketchbook, as usual. Ryou walked up behind him to peer over his shoulder, and waited in silence until Amir’s hand paused. 

“I quite like this one.”

Amir blinked and looked over, eyes clearing as he made the transition from lost in imagination back to the real world again. A grin spread over his face and he tugged Ryou down next to him before holding out the sketchbook.

“Yeah, I think it’s turning out alright.”

“The extra spikes down the chest are a nice touch.” Ryou tapped at a part of the creature which may have been a shoulder. “What did it piss off to deserve having a chunk of its arm ripped off, though?”

“Oh, I dunno. I guess that’s tomorrow’s project. Probably something that’s mostly mouth, though.” He tilted the sketchbook sideways. “I guess that could be fang marks.”

“Or maybe particularly nasty claws. It looks more ripped open than ripped off to me.” Ryou pointed to where the creature’s flesh was hanging off in two different directions. “Either way – ouch.”

“Heh. Yeah.” Amir flipped back a page. “Here’s the design when it’s having a better day.”

Ryou leaned forward eagerly, eyes darting across the page. “Ooh, making the spikes retractable is a nice touch. Clever way to get the emotion across without bothering with much of a face. That’s always hard to do.” Ryou flipped back and forth between the two pages. “Someone really ought to warn it not to piss the other guy off so badly though.”

Amir chuckled as Ryou went back to staring at the gorier of the two pictures in fascination. “Think my editor will go for it?”

“Pfft, she’d be a fool not to. These are great.” Ryou pressed a kiss to Amir’s scratchy cheek. “I’d totally play a… whatever-this-is.”

“And you’d lay waste to all the land while you did, too.”

“You bet I would.” They shared a grin. Ryou had offered to help playtest the previous version, and the sheer carnage he had unleashed was still brought up as the gold standard of playthrough. “Speaking of playing…”

“Heh, right. Game night.” Amir put down the book and stretched out the muscles that had stiffened up after hours of drawing. “What did you pick?”

“Oh, I’ve got something new for us to try.” Ryou stood up and beckoned Amir to follow, grinning.

“New, huh? Is it very complicated?” Amir tried and failed to hide the yawn that slipped past his lips. “I’m not sure how much brain power I have left to learn a bunch of new rules tonight.”

“Oh, don’t worry about that. This one’s dead easy, promise. Here, sit.” He nudged Amir towards the couch, where he sat settled down obediently. “Let’s see…” Ryou reached into the bag he’d placed by the couch and presented his find. “First, you’ll need this.” 

Amir took the ball with a raised eyebrow. “What kind of game needs me to hold a cheap plastic ball?”

“An excellent one.” Ryou beamed, and made a show of fishing around in the bag for a minute before pouting. “But hang on, I think I forgot something by the door on my way in.”

“Ok…? You seem weirdly excited for something that’s not a new RPG.”

“It’s good to branch out. Gimme a sec, I’ll bring the other part.” Ryou beamed at Amir and then scooted out of the room, feeling giddy. Amir had no idea. Oh, this was gonna be _so_ good. He carefully collected his armful and walked back into the room, where Amir was staring down and the ball in his hands, twirling it idly between his palms. Ryou cleared his throat and triumphantly held up his prize. “You need a puppy to play fetch!”

The look an Amir’s face was priceless. It was everything Ryou had hoped for, and he burned it into his memory. The ball dropped to the floor, forgotten, as Amir got to his feet and took a tentative step forwards. “Ryou…” He reached out trembling fingers, and the puppy in Ryou’s arms squirmed enthusiastically with the wagging of his little curled tail. “Ryou, are you serious?”

Ryou smiled and hoisted the puppy up so it had a better angle to thoroughly sniff at Amir’s fingers. “Of course I am. We’ve been talking about this for ages.” Amir let out a delighted gasp as the puppy started licking at his fingers. “I figured it was long past time to take the plunge, and this little guy was just too cute not to adopt on the spot. Plus, he’s just the kind you wanted, isn’t he?”

“Yes!” Amir reached out, and Ryou happily let him take the puppy and hold it up to his face. “Holy crap, Ryou, he’s _perfect_.” A wide grin stretched across his face when the little ball of fur promptly started licking every bit of his face he could reach. “Yes, hello! You’re the best dog in the world, you know that?” The pup squirmed and kicked his paws in the air. “Yes, you are.” Amir scooped the pup into his chest and turned his gaze back to Ryou. “Thank you. I…” The words faded halfway to his mouth and he shrugged helplessly, but Ryou still smiled. 

“You’re welcome.” He reached out his fingers to give their new friend a good scratch behind the ears. “Should we see if he wants to join us for game night?”

Amir’s smile was about the widest Ryou had ever seen it. “Hell yeah.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Day 2, aka a thinly veiled excuse to get YM a puppy :D


	3. Day 3 - Supernatural/Horror

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Length: A "long" one (1550ish)  
> YM name-of-the-day: He doesn't need one >:D  
> Tags: horror, unspecified magic/supernatural AU, unspecified monsters, nonhuman characters, minor cw: blood and injury, being hunted [please tell me if there are tags I should add]

Plink. 

Plink.

Plink.

The droplets were steady. They whisked themselves away in little strings and splashes of colour in the rainwater that was running in rivulets down the gutters.

Plink.

Plink.

They were kind of pretty, in a way. The patterns swirled and danced like clouds set on high-speed, inviting the imagination to see pictures in the dance of the droplets. 

Plink. 

Of course, beautiful or not, it’s generally preferable to keep your blood on the _in_ side. Shame, that. 

Plink.

Ryou put a hand up to staunch the flow of blood from his temple. Now was not the time for distractions - he had other things to do. He forced himself back up off his knees despite the ankle that screamed in protest, and stumbled further down the alleyway, straining his ears to catch the sounds of anything other than the driving rain. 

When he’d arrived in this little town, the first thing he’d been told was that only the brave venture to the eastern edge of town, and that only fools venture there at night. The fear of the shadows that prowled the village’s edge ran deep. It had been months since the first disappearance, and the numbers continued to grow. Now, no one would even visit there, except in dire need, in the bright of day, and with trustworthy company at their back, for fear they may never return otherwise.

That probably meant that only an absolute madman would wander into these lanes in the dark of night, in the thick of a hard, steady rain, and without telling a soul before leaving. So naturally, that is precisely what Ryou had done. After all, what this village so clearly and desperately needed was a bit of a madman. And Ryou had become rather enamoured with this little pocket of the world, so he had been more than happy to provide them with one. 

He huffed and slumped back to the ground in a soggy corner to catch his breath, hand still pressed to his temple. The rain masked everything; he couldn’t hear where his adversary was, no matter how he strained. When he had set out to find out what was terrorizing the locals, he’d expected an overpowered poltergeist. Maybe a stray imp or two, bent on mean-spirited practical jokes. Nothing exciting. Probably nothing even worth his time. He’d never have expected – 

The subtle scrape of a talon gave him just a fraction of a second’s warning to whirl aside before a clawed hand landed where his head had been a moment before with a resounding crack. He backpedalled hard, scrambling around the corner and out of sight. He had to use both hands to steady himself in the tight turn, and the cut on his temple resumed sluggishly painting his face in red. 

“ _Now now, beautiful, no need to run._ ” There was a deep rumbling noise that may have been more of a chuckle than a growl. “ _We can have such fun together_.”

Ryou could hear the beast following him, leisurely and confident. “Maybe so.” He took a splashing step further down the lane. “But not until you put away the claws, cutie.” With that, Ryou ducked into the abandoned warehouse he’d been circling as quietly as he could manage, eyes darting around for cover. There was a loft, but he doubted his ankle could get him to the ladder fast enough in an open dash. Damn.

That elicited a distinct bark of laughter. “ _You make delightful prey. Such a shame it will need to end._ ”

With that, the creature went silent. The sound of the rain was muffled by the walls, leaving the building silent and still. But the prickling in the back of Ryou’s neck told him he’d been followed as surely as the sound of a sweeping tail on dusty floors would have. He edged along the wall in the vague direction of the ladder, keeping cover behind stray crates as table as best as he could. 

It was only years of practice that let him hold in the curse when his foot hit a stray metal pipe. He tensed into a crouch against the wall as the loud clatter rang throughout the building. _Shit_. He strained his eyes and ears to the limit, desperately hoping to figure out from which direction the beast would come. It was too soon for this to be the end. His eyes darted left and right, frantic for a sign. 

The creature slammed to the top of the table in front of him, cackling wildly as Ryou made a desperate lunge to the side. It caught hold of his ankle, wrenching him backwards and laughing delightedly as Ryou yelped and scrambled to his back. 

“ _Hello there, beautiful_.”

Ryou felt the soft drag of a long tongue along his bloody cheek, and wrenched his good leg up to kick at the beast’s midsection with every ounce of his strength. He heard a disgruntled huff as the creature’s weight shifted under the force of his kicks, and he took the opportunity to wrench himself free and scramble away. He bolted full tilt toward a stack of boxes, which he brought down on his pursuer to buy himself a precious second or two to scramble for cover. 

He held his breath steady by sheer force of will as he heard one last, low rumble of laughter before the world fell silent again. Too close. Too soon. He glanced to the side, and saw that at least the encounter had moved him closer to the ladder. Maybe, if he could get up it fast enough, there would be a corner of the loft too tight for the beast to pursue him. In any event, he was damn sure that staying here to be caught like a helpless lost lamb wasn’t the best option. 

The rain hissed, and his breath calmed, and the world stayed silent. Ryou strained his ears, hoping to catch even the faintest clue of where the creature was hunting. If this was going to have a hope of working, the beast needed to be as far away as possible before he threw himself on the ladder. He counted his breaths and waited. 

Nothing. 

He eyed the ladder, temptingly close. He closed his eyes to try to centre himself when he heard it. The faintest of thumps, from the far wall. His eyes snapped open. 

This was it. 

He sprang to his feet and made a lunge for the ladder. There was little point in trying to be silent; the ladder was in full view and let out a loud screech of metal on metal as he grabbed it anyways. The stabbing pain in his ankle faded into the background as he counted the rungs; _two, three…_

He screamed as he was ripped won from his perch, his ankle making a sickening pop as it slammed to the ground. He stumbled as he tried to make an escape, and felt a clawed hand clamp on his arm and whirl him around, slamming him back against the ladder with a loud clang. Flashes of light burst in his vision as the back of his skull connected with a rung. He tried to kick out with his good leg, but a strong hand pinned it down. When he struck out with his hands, they were quickly caught up in the creature’s claws and wrenched above his head. He struggled, but the hold only tightened. A whimper escaped him, and a trickle of blood ran down his arm from where a claw had nicked a vein during his struggles. 

He fell still and looked up through the blood in his gaze as the creature stepped forward, pinning him to his last means of escape.

Shining golden eyes bore into him and hot breath fanned across his face from behind pointed teeth. The creature’s bright, sunbeam hair seemed to quiver with his delight at finally cornering his prey.

“ _And now I’ve caught you, beautiful._ ” A long, forked tongue flicked over the blood running from Ryou’s temple, and the beast's claws flexed around his wrists and leg, which screamed in protest as a claw dug beneath the skin. The beast trembled with delight and a wide, manic grin spread over its face. “ _You’re mine to enjoy as I please._ ”

Ryou huffed out a last gasp of panicked air before closing his eyes with a grimace and drawing in one slow, steadying breath. He relaxed fully into the hold, settling back against the steel at his back. Now, it was time. When he opened his eyes to meet his hunter’s gaze once more, they flashed. 

“You sure about that, cutie?” Ryou didn’t bother giving the creature time to appreciate its mistake before lunging forward so his fangs could draw out the first delightful mouthful of blood, sweet with the tang of adrenaline from the hunt. He wrenched an arm free and clamped a hand over the beast’s mouth to muffle the inhuman yelp. It wouldn’t do to scare the poor townsfolk any more, after all. 

He forced the creature’s head back and gave the neck an affectionate nuzzle to quiet its struggles, before leaning back in to drink more of his prize with a satisfied hum. Mmm. Maybe he’d keep this one. The hunt _had_ been delightful, after all. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (I would especially appreciate your thoughts or constructive criticism on this one, since it's not at all my usual genre. <3)


	4. Day 4 - Favourite Fan Content

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Length: medium (825ish)  
> YM name-of-the-day: Kek  
> Tags: Ancient Egypt AU, based on Milliekou‘s gorgeous artwork, [ this one in particular ](https://milliekou.tumblr.com/post/159776032948/some-doodle-of-ryry-treatin-wounds-3-ancient)(but seriously go snoop the whole tag if you haven’t already); treating wounds, fluff and banter, Ryou is exasperated but Kek is cute so...

Ryou hummed to himself as he carefully portioned out his dried herbs. This particular harvest had been lush, so he would be thoroughly stocked for some time. 

He was startled from his work when the door burst open with a loud clatter. The silhouette in the doorway was instantly recognizable, and his heart fluttered a bit as Kek shouted out his greeting. “Ryou! My favourite and most talented healer!”

Ryou barely got as far as opening his mouth to welcome him, when his eyes caught on the condition of Kek’s arm and he changed tacks on the spot. “What did you DO?!”

“It’s just a scratch, it’ll be fine.”

“A scratch? You call that a scratch??” Ryou yelped and grabbed a rag to stuff over the wound. “You’re bleeding on my table!”

Kek shrugged. “It’s not that bad.”

Ryou’s look could have curdled milk, but Kek seemed unperturbed, idly brushing stray dust from his jewelled collar rather than meeting Ryou’s critical stare. Typical. Kek always seemed wholly unconcerned about getting himself into serious trouble, and it drove Ryou mad. What he’d done to deserve attracting the attention of this particular noble brat, he had no idea. He was just a local healer. He did his part. He’d been nice to the Nile and its inhabitants. So why, oh why, did it have to be _this_ one that he loved!?

“You’re going to contaminate my herbs, you heathen.” Ryou carefully lifted the rag away to examine the damage. It was a deep cut, but looked clean. He eyes Kek suspiciously. “What were you doing?”

Finally, a reaction. Kek looked away, but he was never that genuinely interested in Ryou’s measuring tools. He was evading. “Oh, just messing around.” Ryou levelled him with the fiercest glare he could muster, settling himself further in his seat and making it as obvious as possible that he wouldn’t be lifting a finger to patch up his idiot of a lover until he got a clear answer. Kek made the mistake of meeting his eyes, and promptly relented. “We may have been setting a prank for the prince?”

Ryou’s eyes widened. “You went after Atem again?! You’re going to get yourselves killed, you absolute…” The insult sputtered into silence when he wasn’t able to muster the energy to finish his sentence. Without another word, he grabbed Kek roughly around the wrist and yanked his uninjured arm over to hold the rag while Ryou turned to make an appropriate healing paste. 

“Oh don’t worry so much, beautiful, we’ll be fine.”

Ryou paused in his work to jab at Kek’s chest with a wooden spoon. “I don’t care who you are or who your father is, one of these times you are going to get yourself into serious trouble with this nonsense.” He gave Kek a sharp poke to accent each of his next words. “Leave. The. Prince. Alone. I don’t care that he’s a brat or that he annoys the crap out of you, you need to stop.”

Kek grinned. “You sure have a lot of interesting things to say about the prince, for someone who wants to avoid trouble. Is your family more important than you’ve let me think?”

“That’s different. I’m talking to _you_.” The corner of Ryou’s mouth twitched just slightly as he gave the bandage a sharp tug into place. “And I have a rich boyfriend who will vouch for me if I need to lie to a guard one day.”

“Well, that much is true.”

They shared a quick smile, before Ryou’s expression soured again. “But _you_ -” 

Before he could get going on another rant, Kek darted forward and pressed a quick kiss to his mouth. “ _I_ will be just fine. Besides, I don’t mind the risk.” He held up his arm, now expertly bandaged, and let his lips spread into a wide, lazy grin. “It gives me an excuse to come visit my favourite healer, after all.”

Ryou huffed, and tried to beat down the blush threatening to take over his cheeks. “Even so, I would prefer it if your next visit involved less cleaning blood off my table, and more stolen kisses.”

Kek laughed. “Yes sir!” He gave a playful salute, before fixing Ryou with a smouldering gaze and settling his mouth into a lazy smirk. “You know, no one’s going to come looking for me for a while yet – we could work on fitting in a few more kisses to balance out the blood.”

Ryou let out a huff of air and leaned forward to press a kiss to Kek’s forehead. “Fine.” When Kek leaned forward to kiss him properly, he was met instead by a damp cloth. “But first you’re going to clean my table, you brat.”

It wasn’t long before Kek was exchanging the rag for Ryou, as something to press against the table. For a noble brat, Kek sure could clean up in a hurry when he was properly motivated. 


	5. Day 5 - Tradition/New

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Length: itty bitty (350ish)  
> YM name-of-the-day: Mariku  
> Tags: YM pov, stream of consciousness, hopeful ending, Ryou being Ryou

Longstanding traditions were stupid. This, Mariku firmly believed. They ended in pain, and tears, and broken dreams, and they ruined lives and they were _awful_.

Even newer traditions were miserable. Traditionally, people reacted to him with fear and disgust. That was the rule. They had started that trend in Battle City, when it had suited him just fine, but then they carried it on to the time after, when he hated every moment of it.

But Ryou was different. Everything with him was new.

Where others looked at him with fear and disgust, Ryou had first looked at him with mild curiosity. Ryou had ignored the iron rule of tradition and approached him with bright eyes and a tiny smile. When Mariku let him approach, too baffled to do anything else, the curiosity had quickly changed to fascination. Awkward silence had changed into a babbling stream of eager questions. It was… different.

And then he had broken tradition again, when he started to visit him. Traditionally, people thought he was to be avoided at best, and killed off entirely at worst. But maybe Ryou hated tradition as much as he did. The bright smiles were jarring, and the eager sharing of his interests was bizarre. When Ryou had first hugged him in a moment of excessive excitement, Mariku had frozen to the spot. People wanting to touch him was newest of all. New, sometimes, was startling. But it was good. New, Mariku enjoyed just fine. 

And Ryou had been helping him settle quite deeply into the new. He knew to expect a smile at the door, and to put sugar into Ryou’s tea, and to have at least one new idea that would terrify anyone else ready to share for his next visit. He knew to expect laughter, and being shoved in the shoulder for his snide remarks, and a warm, comfortable hug at the door as they said goodbye, and the smell of Ryou’s shampoo to linger long after he’d left.

And if he found himself looking forward to Ryou’s new little routines, then… well, maybe not _all_ new traditions were bad.


	6. Day 6 - AU

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Length: Medium drabble (~550)  
> YM name-of-the-day: Kek  
> Tags: White mage/Diabolist AU, Ryou is bad at his job, or is he, fluff and banter

An idle, meandering tune flittered around the room from his lips as Ryou worked. The sunlight was warm on his face as he arranged the tools and materials that he needed. Well, probably needed. It’s not like anyone was actually teaching him this stuff. 

A noise at the door made him tense, but the sight of familiar wild blond hair let him relax again, and he resumed his humming with a bright grin. He nonchalantly held his long white tunic out of the way and started his sketch. 

Kek shuffled further into the room and peered at Ryou’s notes. Ryou could imagine he _heard_ the scrape of Kek’s eyeballs as they rolled expressively back into this head before he spoke. “Or for the love of… Ryou, what is this?”

Ryou smiled over his shoulder. “Nothing?”

Ryou didn’t have to imagine hearing the smack of flesh on flesh as Kek slapped a palm to his own forehead. “Are you trying to summon a ghoul again?”

“Um, maybe?” His grin turned a little sheepish as Kek let out a long, exasperated sigh. 

“You are very literally the worst white mage who has ever lived.” Kek nudged Ryou over to stand beside him, and started looking over his notes with an expert eye. “Here, let me help you to not get yourself killed, at least.” He pulled one ingredient out of Ryou’s hands and replaced it with another. 

Ryou beamed and leaned up to press a kiss to Kek’s cheek. “I knew it was a good idea to make nice with one of the diabolists.”

Kek rolled his eyes again. “Despite all the advice against it.”

Ryou snickered a bit at that. “Despite all the advice against it, yes. And aren’t you glad that I did?”

“Damn right I am.” Kek paused his reading to pull Ryou into a proper kiss, and Ryou melted happily into the embrace for a moment before they parted. “That’s a stupid rule, anyways.” Kek pulled back and glanced around the room, where all the usual trappings of an advanced mage’s apprentice were noticeably interspersed with glimmers of the interests Ryou definitely should _not_ have. “But the one that goes ‘please don’t get yourself killed trying to summon a dark creature when you’re supposed to be a white mage’ is a personal favourite of mine. I’d highly recommend it.”

Ryou snickered. “Eh, I think that one’s a little over-exaggerated, really.”

Kek huffed and resumed handing Ryou the proper materials for his little side-project. “Do you _ever_ follow the rules?”

“Sure I do. I listen very carefully to whichever ones sound the most interesting.” The withering look he got for that spoke volumes, so Ryou continued. “It’s fine. I have a knife!” To emphasize the point, he dug around in his robes and produced a fair-sized pocket knife, which he slapped to the table with a decisive _thunk_. “This is my oops-I-followed-the-rules-too-well-again knife. It’s ready to strike at a moment’s notice.”

Kek groaned and rubbed his fingers along his temple. “You’re terrible at your job, you know that?”

“Yep.” Ryou popped the ‘p’ with relish. “Either that, or I’m the best that’s ever lived.” He stood back from the completed summoning circle and grinned impishly up at Kek. “Wanna help me find out which it is?”


	7. Day 7 - Free

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Length: a "long" one (1025ish)  
> YM name-of-the-day: he doesn't have one. :(  
> Tags: Angst, hopeful ending, Big Feels, AU only insofar as this presumes they met and bonded during BC, post-cannon, Ryou POV and he's not impressed with how things turned out, but he's gonna fix it

Ryou scrubbed away angry tears as he scratched out another line. This was going to work. It had to. It was horrifically unfair that Malik’s other half should be doomed to an eternity in shadows when the other spirits had been given another chance. He’d done nothing worse than them. Arguably, he had been the best behaved of the lot, given his situation. Atem may have come a long way, but Ryou had heard the stories. He burned people just for the hell of it, in those early days. And Bakura may have had his reasons, but ending the whole world was excessive. And yet still they had been given the chance to grow, and change, and eventually to live again.

Malik’s other half hadn’t even had the chance to pick out a name.

The thought brought a barely-repressed sob to his throat as it brought up memories of sitting around in the dark corners of the blimp, tossing potential names back and forth like badly-aimed ping pong balls. Ryou remembered watching in fascination as a myriad of emotions flittered across his companion’s face with each new suggestion. Disgust, amusement, anger – and even something that threatened to be a sort of quiet contentment, which would flicker away as fast as it appeared.

Maybe Malik’s shadow hadn’t done much that would be considered ‘good’ in his time, but Ryou had seen the tantalizing glimmers of the man he could be, and damn it, he at least deserved a _chance_.

And if the gods weren’t going to do it themselves, then Ryou was well and truly prepared to force the issue.

The flung the carving blade away to clatter into a corner of the room, forgotten, and wrenched open his bag. He yanked out the millennium ring and stared it down, as though the force of his glare alone would make it to perform the miracle he was about to demand of it.

Bakura and Atem had reappeared with copies of their items when they were pushed out of the shadows. The items had promptly been declared inert. Magically meaningless - albeit a nice aesthetic callback to their lives from Before. And maybe that’s really all they were, but they were also all Ryou had access to. The original items – including the rod – were far out of reach. The two shiny replicas were the closest thing he had to something that connected directly to the shadows.

And so he’d stolen the ring. It seemed the appropriate thing to do, anyways.

He gripped the outer edges of the gold so tightly his knuckles shone white in the low light. He pressed it hard to his forehead and hissed to the eye in its centre. “So help me, copy or not, you will do ONE good thing in your miserable existence, and this is it.”

He held it out, trying to ignore the trembling of his fingers. He had no time to give up to grief or rage just yet. He leaned forward and set the ring firmly in the centre of the circle with both hands, pressing it down into the stone as his hair brushed along its edges, making a curtain to keep his whispered words only his own. “Bring him back to me.”

With that, Ryou leaned back, used a waiting blade to slash a cut across his unscarred palm, and smacked it down to complete the circle.

This had to work.

In the first breathless seconds, nothing happened but a swirl of memories and the slow tickle of tears trailing down his cheeks. His breath hitched. “Give him back.” He thought back to quiet secret nights of whispered stories, of shared laughter over a brand of humour no one ever before had found funny, of the heady feeling of finally being _understood,_ and the shared awkwardness of not knowing at all what to do with the sensation. “Please.” He closed his eyes against more tears, clinging hard to the feeling of desperate hope that had found him when the shadows first opened up to release their captives, and not the crushing disappointment that had forced the feeling out when only two had emerged.

The circle remained lifeless.

His sob echoed off the walls as he wrapped his arms around his middle and clenched his cut hand into a fist, heedless of the pain as his wound ripped open further. It wasn’t fair. Why didn’t he get to keep someone precious? What made him so underserving of that small courtesy? With a wordless yell, lifted his bloody palm and smacked it wetly down on the stone with all the force of his frustration and pain.

The spell flared to life. The shock of it was surely the only thing that kept Ryou’s hand in place as the circle burned to life, pure white and blindingly, painfully bright. And just like that, it was done. Ryou blinked the stars from his eyes and tried to bring the room back into focus. There was a rustle of material in front of him, and he blinked harder until a slouched form emerged from the haze in his vision.

Ryou’s voice cracked when he first opened his mouth, but he forced the words out of his tight throat anyways. “Is that you?”

There was a long pause as the room slowly swam back into focus. “…Ryou?”

Ryou launched himself forward, flinging his arms around the body in front of him as a fresh wave of tears burst forth. The body was warm and solid and _real_ in his grip, and he sobbed when he felt arms circle his frame to hold him back just as tightly. “Ryou? What happened? How the fuck am I here?”

Ryou buried his face into the warm shoulder and laced his fingers through the wild hair he thought had been stolen away forever. “Because you have to be.”

After a beat of silence, he felt his companion nod, and cup a hand around the back of Ryou’s head to tuck him more firmly into his hold as his tears slowly drained away. “Ok.” He settled back and buried his face into Ryou’s hair. “I can do that.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And there we go. Hope you enjoyed the roller coaster of deathshipping week 2020! :D
> 
> [ Tumblr ](https://mainstream-deviant.tumblr.com/)


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